The First South Side Bridge

The first South Side Bridge was erected in 1891 as a private venture.  It had a toll booth until 1914 when the county bought the bridge.  The original South Side Bridge was the first to cross the Kanawha River at Charleston. It gave people an easier way to reach the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway depot on the south side of the river and spurred the development of South Hills. The current bridge, constructed with funds from the Works Progress Administration, opened in 1937.

The bridge was condemned in 1936.  This photo show the bridge just before it was dropped into the river.

The 1891 bridge piers were built using hand cut stone that were dragged by Oxen from the quarry.  In order to keep the old bridge open as long as possible when the new bridge was being built,  new concrete piers were cast in place and the stone piers removed.  Then the old bridge was dropped into the river, a new idea at the time.  The new bridge was then erected on the new concrete piers.